News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-10-06
THE GULF STREAM.
Some Interesting Items About inns
Peculiar Current.

The Gulf Stream may be said to have
It's source in the Gulf of Mexico, whence
1t passes around the Florida Keys, up
through the narrow channel between
Florida and the Bahama Banks, ana
then along the United States, following
IN general way the trend of the coast
and about one hundred miles from 1t.
! This causes it to flow in a northeast dl-
rectlon when near latitude 30 degrees,
! but as the parallel of 40 degrees is al-
! preached it tends more to the eastward,
| gradually leaving the coast, and Just
! south of the Grand Banks of NewtOund-
| land its course is little north OF Gust
At the meridian of 46 degrees some au-
thorities hold that the Gulf Stream
ceases to be an independent current,
and that the drift after this longitude IS
passed is due to the prevailing westerly
and southwestern winds.
Many causes have at various times
been assigned as the motive for this vast
stream; among these were the supposed
higher level of the Gulf of Mexico, the
quantities of water poured into this
Gulf by the Mississippi and other large
rivers, the effects of temperature, the
effects of the trade winds, the difference
of barOmetric pressure, the difference
/ Of density due to evaporation, and the
rotation of the earth. Without going
into the details of this question, on
which scientific men are by no means
united, it is sufficient to say that the
Gulf Stream comes from one OF the last
five causes set forth above, OF perhaps
| from II combination of two or more OF
them. A~
The length of the Gulf Stream
| from its starting point south OF FLORIDA
to Great Britain is about five thousand
miles; its breadth being at its start
about ninety-fve miles; when off Cape
Florida, its flarrowest section, forty
four miles; after this point is passed
it gradually spreads out until off New
York it is probably three hundred miles
wide, and off the British Isles it must
be more than one thousand miles in
width.
The mean daily velocity of the cur
rent of the Gulf Stream throughout the
year is, according to Findlay, about
sixty-six miles off Cape Florida, about
fifty-six miles between the latter and
Cape Hatteras, about forty-six miles off
Nantucket, about thirty-siX miles south
of Nova Scotia, about twenty seven
miles south of the Grand Banks, and to
the eastward of the latter about ten
miles. Findlay estimates the time for
the progress of the water from Florida
to Europe at seven months, while DR..
Peterman puts it at two months. OF
course the strength of the current is
affected by the prevailing wind, and al
50 by the season of the year, being
greatest in summer.
To give briefly a proper idea of the
temperature of this wonderful river of
the sea, I cannot do better than repeat
the conclusions drawn by Dr. Peterman
on the subject: l. The Gulf Stream
flows along the coast of the United
States with a temperature of II degrees,
and upward as far as the latitude of
Chesapeake Bay, and from there to
longitude 40 degrees it has a mean an
nual temperature of seventy degrees.
From that meridian it flows toward the
northeast, supplying western Europe
and the Arctic Ocean with permanent
current of Comparatively warm water,
which has temperature of about 80 de-
grees i'll latitude which, but for this
wise provision of nature, would be a
dreary waste of ice.